AAUG Reviews

by Carlene Brown, AAUG Member

I first looked at Parliant’s PhoneValet Message Center a little over a year ago and have been using PhoneValet on my Mac and recommending it to others every since then. I have found the software to be reliable and an excellent performer. Install it on your Mac, set your preferences and you are ready to go. Phone Valet is a 24/7 answering service and works as a personal valet who is always on the job.

With all the new features PhoneValet version 5.02 is a great asset for both home and small business users.

Phone Valet will place outbound calls, even by voice command; route incoming calls; record messages; and, I love this, send you an email that includes the actual message left by the caller.

PhoneValet has added call trees which help guide callers to the right person or department. Selecting an option on a menu can take the caller to a new menu, making it easy to create a whole tree of options and choices.

One of my favorite new features is PhoneValet’s advanced Address Book integration. You no longer need to transfer phone numbers from your address book to the PhoneValet Phonebook. PhoneValet looks up callers in Apple’s Address Book for customized announcements, call logging, dialing, and voice dialing. The PhoneValet Phonebook still remains accessible and is recommended when there are multiple users of the computer.

PhoneValet not only answers the phone, but can be set up to direct callers to the correct department and/or person, provide information, take messages, transfer callers to outside numbers and run scripts. Voice mail overrides give you the choice to set up a different set of voicemail messages to run at various times of the day and/or on individual lines.

Another new feature that I really appreciate is the ability to call in from anywhere and listen to your new messages. You then may leave them on the call log for further followup when you return to your office or home.

PhoneValet uses caller ID to identify each incoming call. The name of the person calling is displayed in a window on your screen and can also be announced audibly. Of course, if you don’t pick up the phone PhoneValet will answer the call.

You can create profiles for individual callers that will play a special message or greeting just for that person. You can use this feature to also block unwanted calls, and not allow the caller to leave a message.

You now can automatically record all incoming and/or outgoing phone calls, or you may manually record those conversations you wish to save.

PhoneValet tracks your calls and saves them in a permanent call history, keeping the details for each voice mail box, each conversation, and each recording.

For archiving purposes you can create CDs or DVDS of calls, complete with an index that is viewable in any web browser. The discs include all the messages and audio recordings with the calls.

Faxes may also be received by PhoneValet. I have not been able to check this feature as my fax machine is set up on a dedicated phone line.

PhoneValet is an excellent software that has just gotten better with each version. I appreciate the ease of installation, set up, and use. I depend on PhoneValet daily to track my phone calls, record important messages, and place phone calls. I highly recommend PhoneValet. It really works and is definitely as good as they say.

System Requirements
• Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher
• QuickTime 6.5 or higher
• Available USB Port
• Regular (analog) hone line, with touch-tone service, near your computer
• Mac OS Finder Compatible CD burner or “Super Drive for disc archiving
• Universal Binary, runs on both Power PC and Intel Macs